


Vision!Henry Origin

by CardboardCryptid



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27319954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CardboardCryptid/pseuds/CardboardCryptid
Summary: i made a henry and wrote his origin, people said i should post it somewhere so i did
Relationships: polythreat
Comments: 5
Kudos: 75





	1. Chapter 1

Henry had worked so hard for this.   
For the past year, his life had been a sequence of events that were thrust onto him too fast to have the time to think through them.

Yet still, he had been troubled by dreams he often didn’t remember, by gut feelings for seemingly no reason, and now, just seeing or thinking about his closest friends made him uneasy.   
Luckily, they were out of the house at the moment, so he’d been enjoying the moment’s peace, relaxing on the couch.

It was nice; he’d been worried that the two would force him to see a doctor at the rate he was at. He’d insisted he just needed some time off, and the General had decided to give the three a break for a while.   
He felt a buzz go off on his lap. A quick check confirmed it was a text from-

...Charles.

He pushed down the various emotions rising up in him, trying to focus on the words first.   
“ _ Hey, do we need any groceries while we’re out? _ ”

Why was such a simple question provoking such a reaction from him? The headache spoke for itself, but… why was he so scared? For what? Charles was fine! He was… he…

Oh god, what was happening to him? Henry had to be descending into insanity; he had to be. But the longer he thought about it; the longer he looked at that name- everything got worse.   
Henry’s hand trembled as he squeezed his eyes shut, desperate for it all to go away.

...but it wasn’t.

Dammit, he’d just had his peace!  _ He was happy _ ! He just wanted to live his life with Charles, and Ellie… and…

...wait, and who?

He didn’t…

Henry opened his eyes.

...

He wished he hadn’t.   
Charles had been worried, evidently, by his lack of a response.   
“ _ Henry? Something bothering you again? I can pick up some painkillers if you need! _ ”

“ _ Henry, are you there? Do we need to come back? _ ”   
“ _ Henry? Hello??? _ ”   
“ _ Are you ok??? _ ”

Tears began to stream down his face. He couldn’t have the two return when he was like this, fuck!   
“ _ i’m ok charles, yes pls get groceries. love u _ ”   
Yeah, that wasn’t concerning at all. But it was all he could manage. He shut off his phone, leaving it on the couch seat as he stumbled over to… somewhere else.   
His perception was collapsing in on itself. No, nothing was moving or anything, but everything that led up to this moment…

It wasn’t that he couldn’t remember.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

It wasn’t clear, but he was getting closer to his answers.

He’d broken into the bank.   
He’d escaped the prison.

He’d stolen the diamond…

He’d…

...wait, how did he-

Everything exploded.

Not literally.

But he  _ understood _ .

And in that moment, his senses may very well have exploded.

He could see everything.

Feel everything.

Anything and everything was happening at once, like… he had made every choice, and each was true.

But that wasn’t possible.

And it wasn’t, for very long anyway.

Just as quickly as his existence had been split, it was being sewn back together in a horrifically different way with the stability of his own mental health.   
He wanted to stay HERE!

HE WANTED THIS TO  _ STOP! _

_ WHY WOULDN’T IT STOP? _

Henry screamed. Held his head.

It wasn’t until his voice was beginning to give out that he realized… he wasn’t in pain anymore. Well, besides the throat.

Then why could he still see- oh.

Henry had moved his hand in an attempt to examine his body, but it was covered by a sleeve that was far too big for him.

...He sort of liked it. Yeah, his outfit was comfy.

Okay yeah he was still seeing everything though he couldn’t just ignore that though.

The weirdest part was that he could still, like… “see” normally. He felt everything only where he was, which was a relief, but. It was still overwhelming.

It was like… well, there’s no metaphorical way to describe “seeing anything and everything that is currently taking place in each timeline”. It just  _ was _ .

But he’d had the time to take it all in.   
Besides, he was getting nowhere just sitting here. Charles and Ellie could be home at any minute; he had no clue!

But one thing was more important than that right now.

Henry had to know what in god’s name he looked like. If his clothes changed, then…

Well, he was on his feet now. Only one thing left.

Nearest mirror was in the bathroom, so off he went, slowly but surely.

He almost couldn’t bring himself to open the door, but… he had to know. It creaked to an open, and-

Henry had to do a double-take.

_ Was that really him? _

There were one, two, three… too many to count.  _ But that was NOT a normal amount of eyes. _

And his mouth… it was more like… a mix between an animal’s maw and what his own was. The inside was weirder- the shape was what you’d expect, but the visual texture was something between TV static and outer space.

Henry felt something rise up in his throat.

_ How would he face Charles and Ellie now? _


	2. chapter 2 electric boogaloo

Henry stared wordlessly into the now-melting wastebasket, almost making him sick once more.

That wasn’t normal.   
_ That wasn’t normal. _

But none of this was normal.

The hiss of the metal wasn’t normal.

The fact that it had the same texture as his maw wasn’t normal.

The fact that it was evaporating at a rate that almost relieved him wasn’t normal.

The fact that it stung at his lips wasn’t normal.

Oh god.

He’d situated himself at a corner, trying to process his… well, current count was 15? 15-fold vision, barring what was normal- when the muffled sound of the apartment being unlocked made its way to his senses.

Silence. Silent panic. Then…

“Henry?”   
Huh. That was Ellie.   
“Henry, where are you?”   
Ah. There’s Charles.

The sound of… maybe groceries on the counter. That didn’t matter compared to the footsteps.

...they were getting scarily close to-   
“Hey, are you in there?”   
...yeah, Henry had expected that.   
Ellie sighed; she knew he wouldn’t want to talk. She slid to the floor, back against the door.

“...Henry, I know you said it’s nothing, but… we’re here to help, you know?”

He appreciated her efforts. He really did.

But she had no idea what had just happened.

What he  _ looked like _ .

He wanted, so desperately, to believe they’d accept him still with open arms, but… would they even recognize him?

“...I get it. Thinking about the past sucks.”

Oh, she had  _ no idea _ .

Henry hated this. Ellie was trying so desperately to help him, and it was different when he didn’t know what was wrong. When he could  _ deal _ with it. But now he’s just hurting her. He’s hurting them both, by pushing them away...   
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m-”   
The words left his lips before he could even think about it; repeated 15 times in a hushed mumble before silencing.

“...Henry, you have nothing to be sorry for.”   
“But I do, Ellie!”

The redhead had opened her mouth to respond, but a particularly bold-actioned man finally piped up.   
“Alright Ellie, it’s my turn.”   
Oh. Charles was usually pretty direct, so Henry expected-

Oh.

Well, the door was open. Somebody would have to pay for that later.

Charles’ gaze scanned the room, locking itself at the corner, on…

He jumped back in surprise.

“Wh- what the fuck?”

Ellie would scold Charles for this later, but Charles’ response was worrying. She peered into the room, and...

Ellie tensed up, body moving on its own as adrenaline flowed through her.

Her stop sign. That was her best bet.

Fuckdammit, she realized, she’d left Charles alone with that…  _ thing. _ Not that he couldn’t handle himself; he was in the goddamn military, but still-

Wait, why was it still quiet?

Her feet carried her faster than before, fearing for the worst.

But the scene was the same as before.

Time stood still as Henry shook like a leaf where the walls connected.

Then the silence was broken.

“...why is it just staring at me?”

That did it. Henry burst into tears at the sound of his Charlie calling him “it”. They didn’t even know who he was…

Ellie narrowed her eyes. This wasn’t… what she’d expected. Henry gets into weird trouble all the time, so a monster showing up wasn’t-

Then it clicked.

Henry wasn’t here.

But  _ this _ was.

“...Henry?”

The man in question’s gaze raised.

Holy shit.   
Charles’ gears were grinding to the same conclusion, but not before..

“Henry!”   
The stop sign clattered to the floor as Ellie rushed to the figure.

Her Henry.

His Henry.

Henry’s tears worsened, but for a much better reason. His chest heaved as he gripped his lovers’ shirts, bawling into them.

“Henry, what happened?”


	3. Chapter 3: Balanced, as all things should be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was supposed to be all fluff but it’s still a good balance of both in my eyes

It was difficult to explain something that had happened only a few hours ago. Still, the two were pretty accepting, which made it a whole lot easier.

“...so you’re telling me that each of those eyes sees a… different world?”   
“Like… a timeline?”

Ellie puffed up, seemingly offended by his suggestion.

“No! They’re different worlds! If they were timelines, that’d be…”   
She trailed off.   
“What? That’d be what?” Charles prodded her, curious.   
“Depressing.”

…

“...oh.” He paused. “...yeah, it would.”

Henry made a noise to draw attention to himself.

“I don’t think it matters… not to me anyway.”

The three agreed to disagree. In the end, Henry was the one going through this, not the other two.

Eventually, the gang got to more closely examining their mate’s new form.

“What happens if I do this?”

Ellie wondered aloud, covering one of Henry’s many eyes.

“I uh… still see it? That was one of the first things I tried.”

“Damn.”

Charles was more interested in the maw.

“Hey Henry, can I see the inside?”

It took Henry a second to realize what he meant, but he didn’t object.

“Sure.” He responded, opening the jaws for him to-

Stick his fucking finger directly into his mouth with a sharp hiss.

“Holy shit, Charles?” 

Henry attempted to assess the damage, but Charles was already going at the medical supplies. God, it was a good thing Charles was used to this kind of thing.

“Fuck! I’m fine! Don’t worry Henry, that was my fault-”   
Henry hadn’t even considered that, but he wasn’t ungrateful for the reassurance.

“Oh, um… okay!”   
It pained the others to hear him so unsure of himself. Henry was so confident before this began to go down, and… well, at least he was accepting their help, now. He could get better.

“Guys?”

Speak of the devil. Charles had his hands full, but Ellie wrapped her arm around the smaller man.   
“Yeah, we’re still here.”   
“You can count on that, Henry!” Charles announced, finishing up with his burn. He lifted both of them up, almost bringing all three crashing to the ground.

Yeah. Everything would be alright! He had these two, after all.

The next few hours were uneventful. Henry couldn’t properly recall any of what he’d seen during his… process, and each eye functioned as any one should. The clothes were… well, clothes! He’d tried to see what the skin under looked like, but after a certain point, it just… merged. The sleeves were the part where he was exposed the most, but all it did was make it easier to roll up.

But it got weirder.

Everything had settled by this point- the group decided to put together a meal after all these tears and feelings. It was important for Henry to stay hydrated!

Ah fuck, Ellie and Charles hadn’t put away any of the groceries. Welp, that just wouldn’t do!

The three immediately got to work. Milk, eggs, all the stuff they  _ really _ shouldn’t have left to their own devices for those hours first. Charles had to point out to Henry that he couldn’t pick up the gallon with his sleeves, which got a chuckle out of everyone.

_ And then they shrank. _

Henry was about to roll them up, but they just. Retracted to a normal size.

He damn near knocked everything off the counter with a yelp before it went right back to the way it was before.

And the incident wasn’t unnoticed.

Ellie almost dropped the eggs.

Charles was holding Henry’s arms.

“...what the fuck.”

That snapped Henry out of his panic, immediately followed by Ellie snagging one for herself.

“Woah, that’s so cool!”

“Hey, I was gonna say that!”

“I said it first!!!”

Well, it was good to know they weren’t freaked out by the sudden change.

“Guys? The milk.”   
Charles jumped up, swiping the gallon from the counter.

“Right! We’ll talk about that later.”

But the two chaotic mates had no intention of letting it entirely go. They wanted to try something, based on what had just occurred...

A knowing glance from one to the other was all it took to confirm the feeling was mutual.

“Hey Henry,” piped up Charles. “Can you put away the ramen?”

Henry didn’t think anything of it until he heard a gasp from both his housemates.

“What?” He demanded, the shorter man not realizing that he could reach the top shelf on the counter for once.

“Yo, look- look at your arms…”

And look he did.

Ah. There goes the ramen. Well, almost. Ellie snagged it at the last second while Charles burst into a fit of laughter.

“Henry, I was- sort of testing- but also you’re short-”

He got whipped with a sleeve.

“Okay, I deserve that. But it’s neat, isn’t it?”

Henry wasn’t really angry, but he didn’t appreciate the two testing him without his permission.

“Hey,” Ellie nudged Charles. “We’re sorry. No more little experiments until later.”

“Yeah,” he conceded. “But you can’t blame us for wondering.”   
“Okay, okay- and no more calling me short, or I’ll really add the jar this time!”

“We could just put it on the top shelf-  _ OOF- _ ”

And that was that.

Well, until they finally threw a meal together.

Henry didn’t even realize how hungry he was. Hey, it’s hard to build up an appetite when you’re torn across different realities!

It was damn time for something simple, so the three settled for hot dogs. It was hard to go wrong with a classic!

The others had already dressed and chomped into theirs, but Henry had to have his ketchup both inside the bun and on the hot dog. Which was sort of hard when he wasn’t sure if his rolled up sleeves would shift or not.

Once he was sure it was primed and ready for consumption, he carefully picked it up and chomped down-

_ Hiss... _

Uh.

“Um.”

“Henry?”

What was that sound? Why couldn’t he taste the food? He could feel it, but…

“Henry is that STEAM?”

Oh my god it was. Henry panicked and swallowed, but he could tell that there was almost nothing left of the bite.

“...is that what happened to the trash can?” Charles broke the tension.

“Well- yeah?” Henry wheezed out.

“Wait, guys-“ Ellie interjected. “Let’s be serious for a moment. ...does Henry need to eat anymore? Because that’s…”

Yeah, she’d voiced a concern that the party shared.

“Maybe not?” Charles suggested. “It’d save us a bit of money, and either way, that wouldn’t be too weird…”

“But what if I do?” Henry’s voice wavered. “What can we do about it?”

Nobody had an answer.

It got more concerning fast.

Henry had started to show signs of malnutrition, and at first, it seemed to help to feed him more often, but even that had its limits. At least his picky eating didn’t matter much when he couldn’t taste the food.

And hey, they hadn’t bothered him about his weird body shifts.

Henry laid on the couch, hands enveloped by his partners’. They couldn’t exactly take him to a doctor, now could they? So they’d… done their best.

Salad. Whatever made its way into his system would hopefully keep him going a few days longer. At least stop making him dizzy whenever he stood up for too long.

He’d longed for the taste of food. They’d given him his favorites, at first, but it had made no difference anymore…

He braced himself to swallow fast, regretting the loss of a sense he’d never think to miss until it was gone. Even a mostly tasteless leaf like this…

No. Not tasteless.

The two leaned closer to Henry.

“Henry?”

“Guys, I can…”

“Yeah man we can see!”

“It’s not hissing either, but what changed?”

Henry almost spat out the piece, but… his mind seemed focused. On what? He tried to shake it off, and…

_ Hiss. _

“Henry?!”

Oh fuck oh-

“Henry, try to do it again!”

And after some convincing, he did.

...and it worked.

He’d gotten used to it rather quickly. Small things, like his mouth- it seemed to happen either with his will, or convenience. If he focused correctly, he’d get the results he needed. With more practice, he was sure he could do much greater things.

But he’d also had… other changes.

Sure, he’d gone over it briefly with Charles and Ellie, but…

Those memories came to him all at once.

He’d need to get them sorted out.

Ellie and Charles tried to help, but none of the three could make the notes Henry had managed any neater. It was hard to remember what happened in which world!

At least it was easy to double-check his own.

It felt weird to call it that, but… he felt something special with this one. Not just Charles and Ellie, though they were a big factor. Probably because he was here when it happened.

They were named in a familiar fashion. Triple Threat, for example.

But the more he thought about them, the more he’d realized… he might have tuned it out, but he never stopped being able to see into those worlds. That wasn’t new to him, but now he’d begun to wonder  _ why _ .

In the middle of his writing, he tried focusing on one of the… visions.

His surroundings shifted, and he… was in a completely different position. This was…

This was an office. The windows displayed pitch black with specks of light scattered throughout. A sight he was familiar with, but an unwelcome one compared to his home. He didn’t want to be here! He wanted to be back at his desk in-

And then he was.

He’d heard wheezing and his name being called. He didn’t fully understand what had happened, but…

He could get used to this.


End file.
